Away from prying eyes, VVS Laxman slipped out of the team hotel on Thursday with Raghavendra, the team's official 'ball-chucker', and made his way to the Adelaide Oval. Laxman batted for nearly two hours to Raghavendra's throwdowns in a desperate bid to regain his touch before the fourth Test, which starts next Tuesday.
Laxman's 'solo' nets sent out two clear signals. First, his honesty of purpose will certainly not be lost on the team management, and secondly, it has scotched all rumours of his impending retirement. He has made it clear that irrespective of his form, he intends to carry on, making it difficult for the team management to put his head on the chopping block when they commit 11 names to paper for the final Test.
The media was not allowed to watch Laxman's practice session, but given the limited benefit of batting against bowling machines and throwdowns, one is not sure whether the Hyderabadi stalwart is on the right track. If former India coach Greg Chappell is to be believed, bowling machines and throwdowns can have a negative effect on a batsman's footwork as it removes the bowlers' action from the learning equation.
According to Chappell, "bowling machines and throwdowns encourage batsmen to take a short stride to the ball with a consequent throwing of the hands at it when what is needed is a smooth, long stride as close to the ball as possible with the hands coming into the action at the last possible moment".
Chappell also pointed in a recent article that the "throwing of hands" at the ball almost invariably results in batsmen getting an inside edge, either on to the stumps, or just past them.
But try telling all this to the Indian players who flare up at the very mention of the hard-nosed Australian. The other problem with the Indian players is that they are prone to aping Sachin Tendulkar mindlessly. Batting against throwdowns is something Sachin started during the John Wright era, but it was during Gary Kirsten's regime that it became a part of the official 'curriculum' with the coach turning himself into a glorified "ball-thrower".
Things can change in the Indian dressing room between now and Tuesday, but what has clearly not changed is the attitude. None of his other teammates, however, cared to follow Laxman's example on what was an officially-declared rest day.
Most of the players indulged in window shopping with their wives. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is suspended for the final Test, made a quick trip to a vineyard in the morning. He was accompanied by his wife Sakshi and teammates R Vinay Kumar, Rahul Dravid and manager Shivlal Yadav.
The Indian team management changed their tour schedule and announced that the players will be attending a full-fledged nets session on Friday, originally a rest day.
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